SEVENTH WONDER: Ivan Nova tips his cap while coming off the mound in the eighth inning last night. Nova pitched at least seven innings for the seventh straight start. Photo: AP

Sources close to Alex Rodriguez claim the slugger is innocent, or at least not as guilty as Major League Baseball makes him sound, and is willing to go to court to prove it, according to TMZ.

The gossip site reported yesterday Rodriguez is planning to sue MLB in federal court next month if the 211-game ban, given for alleged PED use through his ties with Biogenesis, he is currently appealing is not lifted. The sources said Rodriguez has multiple reasons for this:

* He hasn’t “knowingly” used PEDs since 2003.

* He has been drug tested 11 times since 2011 and all have been negative.

* A-Rod feels “persecuted” and the length of his suspension compared to Brewers’ Ryan Braun’s 65-game ban is “absurd.”

* There’s “no proof” A-Rod impeded MLB’s investigation.

This could just be bluster from the Rodriguez camp as it aims to put some pressure on MLB and get his side of the story out with an appeals process that is not expected to be completed until November or December.